“EU citizens are not physically fighting battles, yet the Union still sees itself as if it were at war,” the prime minister stated, pointing to what he described as a proxy war increasingly owned by Brussels. European leaders speak of the Russia–Ukraine conflict as if it were the EU’s own war, while there are no EU troops on the ground. This dissonance, he said, exposes the Union’s deepening role in a war it is not formally a part of.
He cautioned that the danger of escalation has reached a new high. “The danger that Europe steps into, gets dragged into, stumbles into, or blunders into a war—leading to ever deeper involvement—is now at its highest since the war began,” he said.
In this context, the prime minister criticized the EU’s leadership for obstructing peace efforts, claiming that without interference, U.S.-led negotiations with Russia could already have produced a ceasefire.
Prime Minister Orbán also raised objections to the EU’s plan to seize frozen Russian assets. He warned that such a move could provoke retaliation against Hungarian companies operating in non-sanctioned sectors in Russia. “If, in response, these companies or their assets are seized, I’ll have a hard time justifying why Hungary should support the confiscation of frozen Russian assets—especially if Hungarian firms are made to pay the price,” he said.
While legal mechanisms to bypass unanimous decisions are being explored in Brussels, the prime minister stressed that under current law, unanimity is still required, and Hungary intends to defend its economic interests accordingly.
Looking to regional cooperation, the prime minister confirmed that Hungary will hold the presidency of the Visegrád Four (V4) until July 2026 and expressed hope that recent political shifts in the region, specifically Andrej Babis's victory in Czechia, could revitalize the group. “If the three of us [together with Fico and Babis] are in place, then we’ll attempt to restart the V4 cooperation,” he said, adding that the alliance had been a successful form of cooperation until it was, in his words, paralyzed and dismantled with the help of Brussels and Berlin.
He also addressed the situation of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine. “Hungary stands fully and firmly behind the Hungarian minority living in Transcarpathia,” he declared, offering public guarantees to community leaders who had travelled from Ukraine to attend the event. The prime minister assured them that no resource necessary for the preservation of Hungarian identity and life in the region would be withheld.
In his broader geopolitical overview, Prime Minister Orbán described a world undergoing rapid change—from the rise of technological disruption to shifting power dynamics between global players like the United States, China, and India. He concluded that Hungary must remain alert, defend its interests, and continue advocating for peace in a time of rising uncertainty.